


A Worthy Gift

by Spideyfan62



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Michelle Jones, Canon Compliant, Dating Anniversary, F/M, Gen, Michelle Jones is a Good Girlfriend, POV Michelle Jones, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home Mid-Credits Scene, Stressing Over Gifts, Supportive May Parker (Spider-Man)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spideyfan62/pseuds/Spideyfan62
Summary: M.J. stared out the window from her seat, looking out into the New York sunset. Her mind was far from her time in place; instead, it was occupied with a dilemma: what was she going to get Peter for their 1st dating anniversary coming up in a week? She had never been one to give gifts, seeing them largely as a waste, given that most gifts would either be consumed, spent or their purpose generally exhausted within a short period of acquiring said gift.That all changed, however, the day she had been given a gift she knew she would NEVER grow tired of.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	A Worthy Gift

**Author's Note:**

> In this story: M.J. tries to think of an idea of what to get Peter for their first dating anniversary, and comes up with a unique idea.

M.J. stared out the window from her seat, looking out into the New York sunset. Her mind was far from her time in place; instead, it was occupied with a dilemma: what was she going to get Peter for their 1st dating anniversary coming up in a week? She had never been one to give gifts, seeing them largely as a waste, given that most gifts would either be consumed, spent or their purpose generally exhausted within a short period of acquiring said gift. 

That all changed, however, the day she had been given a gift she knew she would NEVER grow tired of. 

The fingers of M.J.'s right hand began tracing the Black Dahlia necklace, holding it out for her eyes to gloss over for the millionth time. It glistened in the rays of light that streamed through the window, echoing how she had come to see it in her own life. It had been a reminder many times over the last year of the strength of her and Peter's affection for one another. Whether it was the fall out of Peter's identity being revealed to the whole world, and the doubts of how close he should keep the people in his life, to wondering if she could really be strong for him like she felt she should. It was in those nights that she would take hold of the necklace, sometimes just grasping it, sometimes looking at it, and she would feel at least a small amount of peace wash over. Somehow, in those moments, she could believe everything would be okay. Now, despite both of their fears and their concerns, and that the odds had been fundamentally against them in every way imaginable, here they still were, their relationship as strong as ever. 

"M.J," a gentle voice spoke up. "You still with me?" 

M.J. looked up at May, who was looking at her from across counter, two mugs of freshly made tea in her hands. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry May," she said, gently setting the necklace back down and taking one of the mugs from the woman's hand. "Thank you." 

"No problem," the woman responded. "I don't mean to pry, but is there something on your mind?" 

Oh May, always knowing how to not be too pushy but still show she cared at the same time. The woman was more like her mom than her birth mother, who she hadn't seen in several years. 

"There is," she admitted. She wanted to go further, but she wasn't sure how to address the matter. 

"You don't know what to get him, do you?" May said. 

M.J. looked up at her, eyes wide in surprise. May simply smiled back before looking down at a bracelet on her wrist. 

"Ben got me this as a gift when we first got together," the older woman explained, leaning her wrist forward. "It wasn't much, but it quickly became worth more to me than all the money in the world. The way you were looking at that necklace just now...it's the same way I looked at this when I was trying to think of what to get him the first time we were celebrating something as well." 

M.J. looked up into May's eyes, desperately searching for answers. 

"How did you figure it out?" she asked, her voice practically pleading for some powerful insight. 

May smiled, looking down at the counter for a moment before meeting M.J.'s eyes again.

"I don't have any magical answer for you," May admitted. "I wish I did. All I can tell you is that it ended up coming to me, and that it will come to you. You're a smart, observant girl, M.J. You'll figure it out." 

M.J. wished she shared May's confidence in her abilities. 

Before she could say anything else, she was distracted by the sound of webs being shot out not too far away. Peter must've been coming back from dealing with whatever had been the cause of the sirens they heard a half hour ago. Sure enough, they could hear a small thud of him dropping into his room. It must've been something related to a fire, since they heard the shower running less than a minute later. Finally, after about twenty minutes, Peter was back down with them. 

"Hope you left some hot water for your aunt," M.J. teased. She immediately regretted her typical dose of sarcasm, however, when she noticed too late the downcast look in his eyes. So much for those observational abilities of hers. 

"Everything okay?" May asked. 

"It's fine," Peter said, avoiding eye contact with either of them as he went to the fridge to grab a bottled water. 

"Peter..." M.J. said, drawing out his name. He froze for a moment in the middle of the kitchen, then walked to the section of the counter that was in between May and M.J. 

"I just didn't get a very welcome reception after the incident, that's all," he said. Peter was not one to enjoy throwing pity parties for himself, nor have much attention on him in general, so getting details was like pulling teeth.

"They didn't throw anything at you this time, did they?" May asked, her protective maternal instincts rapidly coming to the surface. 

"No," Peter said, taking a drink from his water bottle before continuing. "Some in the crowd were just spewing stuff about how I probably caused the fire in the first place." 

"Sounds like those losers have been listening to Jameson too much again," M.J. said in between sips of tea. "I don't know why anyone listens to his rambling." 

"It doesn't matter," Peter quickly dismissed, but M.J. could tell, even as he tried to put on a brave face and suggest they move onto studying for their last test tomorrow, that it DID matter. All through the evening, even as happy as he looked on the surface, she could tell it was bothering him. While the immediate fallout of the London incident had been the hardest, things were still not easy once his name was cleared either. The damage had been done; to many in the general public, the name Peter Parker would forever be attributed to a terrorist attack at worst, or a trouble making kid playing vigilante at best. 

Still, M.J. had to believe that there were people out there that believed in him. Surely these people that grabbed all the headlines and captured the majority of Peter's attention while on patrol that spewed hate and negativity had to have their opposite out there, somewhere. Maybe they just needed somebody to help rally them. 

That's when M.J. got a gift idea. 

\---

M.J. sat at her desk in her room, her finger hovering over the enter button on her laptop. All she needed to do was tap that key, and the website she had spent the last 3 days meticulously crafting would come to life. People would be free to record and post testimonials of the positive impact Spider-Man had had on their lives, their loved ones, and their communities. Tales could be told of livelihoods that were saved or kittens rescued from trees. There was so much potential. 

Maybe that was what was stopping her from hitting enter though: the knowledge that it was just potential. 

She slowly lowered her hand from the keyboard as doubt crept into her mind. What if nobody posted onto it? Worse, what if people did nothing but post hate on it? She could always delete that kind of stuff, but the thought still weighed heavily on her. 

It didn't help her growing anxiety in this matter that M.J. had never been one to especially believe in people in general. Peter was one of the first to ever make her see that, in spite of the fact that people tended to inherently look after themselves, they also could be truly selfless, that there were those who could rise above the rest. Peter was an inspiration to her, but he hadn't just wiped away all her doubts about the rest of humanity. Still, she knew that Peter had faith, despite everything he had faced over the last year, and she had to too. 

Moving quickly before doubt could creep in again, she quickly hit enter. Now all she could do was wait. 

\---

M.J. waited at their designated meeting spot, a rooftop that gave a beautiful view of the rising sun over the city, with eager anticipation. Peter would be here any second, and she was anxious how he would receive her gift. She was mostly confident, as the turn out had been much, much better than she anticipated, but a small part of her also worried that he would feel guilty that she felt she had to go to such great lengths for him. 

Peter suddenly came within view, his red and black costume unmistakable. He was carrying something long and thin in his right hand, and suddenly her anticipation shifted towards what it could be. After a moment, Peter flipped onto the building, landing in the most superhero style pose ever. 

"Showoff," she said, trying to maintain her trademark deadpan expression. 

"You love it and you know it," he teased, mask still on. Without hesitation, he then held out his gift with both hands to her, getting on one knee. 

"For the lady," he said. If it was anyone else, she wouldn't give them the time of day for how cheesy they were being, but because it was Peter, it just made her smile a wide smile and her heart swell. 

She grabbed the present from his hands; it was long, but very light. She tore it open to reveal a very shiny staff. 

"Where'd you get this?" she asked. 

"Wakanda," Peter said as he got up, finally removing his mask. M.J.'s eyes went wide. "I know it's not a mace, but I still thought you might..." 

She cut him off with a kiss. 

"It's perfect," she said, not even trying to hide her smile anymore. Peter smiled back at her. For a moment they just stared at each other, before M.J. remembered what she had to give. 

"Oh yeah, I've got something for you too," she said, pulling her phone out from her back pocket. She could feel Peter's curious eyes on her as she pulled up the website. Finally, she turned and offered the phone to him. Peter looked at her before meekly reaching out and taking it. For a moment, he seemed to be studying it, like he wasn't really sure of what he was seeing. 

"Did...did you create this?" he asked softly. 

M.J. nodded, offering a light smile. She still couldn't discern fully what he seemed to be thinking about it, which made her nervous.

Peter then thumbed through it a little bit, and soon a video was playing. 

"Hi Spider-Man," came a woman's voice. "My name is Jessica. You might not remember, but about 4 months ago, you saved my 4 year old and I from a hostage situation at the bank. More than that, you made sure my last word's to my husband weren't mean and angry, but forgiving. I might not have had that opportunity if not for you. Thank you, Spider-Man; keep up the good work." 

M.J. watched Peter's eyes as the video ended, and she could see the first glimpses of tears welling up in his eyes. She then saw him tap on another video. 

"Hey Spider-Man," came a man's voice this time. "My name is Nathaniel. You returned my bike to me after some punk stole it. That bike is the only way I have to get to work besides walking, and I couldn't afford a new one or to start taking the taxi. You really helped me out. Keep fighting the good fight man." 

Another video began playing almost immediately. 

"What's up, Spider-Man?" came another man's voice. "This is Howard, and...man, words just aren't enough, but they're all I've got. Thank you. Thank you for not turning my boy in to the cops just for being on lookout for a gang, but recognizing that he just needed help. Thank you for talking with him and bringing him back to me. That night was a reckoning for both of us; I could see how much I had failed him as a father. Now, he's preparing to go into medical school to be a doctor. You showed him that he could be more than what society had told him he could be all his life. Spider-Man, Peter....from the bottom of my heart, as well as my son's, thank you so very much. Please, never give up." 

It finally became too much, as Peter slowly sank to his knees, tears flowing freely now. M.J. immediately came over to him, placing each of her hands on his shoulders. 

"Are you okay?" she asked. 

Peter finally gathered control of himself, sniffing hard before making eye contact with her. 

"Thank you." 

M.J. smiled softly at him. "You deserve to know that people appreciate you," she said. 

Peter placed a gloved hand on her cheek, and soon they closed the distance with another kiss. 

"Happy anniversary," he said once they separated. 

"Happy anniversary, Spider-Man," she answered. 

It was only just beginning, but M.J. already knew it would indeed be a very happy one.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy out there everyone! 
> 
> "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24:5-8


End file.
